Tech & humanity: a love story #3

Welcome to “Tech & humanity: a love story”, your go-to source for insights, strategies & stories to understand and master the ever-evolving relationship between technology and humans in the world of business and brands.

Join me as I delve into the power of collaboration in the AI age, how to enhance your personal brand, and lead with purpose. I will also explore the shifting values of the new customer, the future of work, and how sustainability can become a competitive advantage for businesses.

👀 Location is the new oil for digital advertisers

According to its website, Life360 is all about keeping your family safe. 👪 The app enables parents concerned about their teenage children’s safety and whereabouts to track their location in real-time. Through an interface that resembles a pet tracking app, users can check whether their offspring have arrived at school on time, for example. In addition, it features a tool to monitor how fast teenagers are driving and issue an alert if a crash is detected. Despite some protests from teenagers concerned about the invasion of their privacy, the company has successfully attracted users and now boasts 71 million monthly active users across 150 countries. Since its Nasdaq IPO in June, the stock is up roughly 38%. 📈

So how does Life360 make money? The app does have paid subscription options alongside its free tier. However, it is now becoming clear that the collection and sale of location data plays a key role in the company’s business model. Back in 2021, it was revealed that the company was selling anonymized, but unhashed, location data to over 12 different data brokers, with each data stream linked to a unique id. Studies show that such ids are highly unique and can quite easily be linked back to the individuals they originate from.

Last week, the company launched its own targeted advertising platform. In the press release announcing the move it claims that it will provide “unparalleled insights into family dynamics, routines, and behaviors”. One of the first clients of the platform is Uber, which will target advertisements urging teenagers to hail a ride when they reach certain locations, such as when their flight lands. Investors have responded positively to the announcement, with Morning Star describing it as a “game changer” for the company.

With the decline of third-party cookies and stricter online privacy rules in recent years, it has become harder for advertisers to target their ads effectively. In this light, it is unsurprising that they are looking for new ways to gain information about consumers and make their ad spends more efficient. From a branding perspective, however, Life360 needs to thread a fine line between the “safety” and “security” that is so central to its brand promise and the reality of its data practices.🧐

💨 Volvo’s electric dreams hit a speed bump

Volvo has reversed plans to exclusively produce electric cars from 2030. The Swedish-founded carmaker, which is now owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, said that it still believes the future is electric, but it will continue to produce some vehicles with hybrid powertrains beyond 2030. 👀 👀 The company cited the removal of government subsidies for EVs and the slower-than-expected rollout of charging infrastructure as factors in its decision. The move comes amid softening global EV sales.

It is just three years since Volvo first published its plans to become a fully electric premium car brand by 2030. The brand strongly emphasizes environmental priorities, with a vision of a future where people have the “freedom to move in a personal, sustainable and safe way”. Its latest u-turn illustrates the dangers of basing a purpose-driven leadership plan on factors that are largely outside the control of the company, such as government policy and subsidies. Volvo could have set the achievable goal of producing an electric model in every vehicle segment by 2030, without a rigid commitment to entirely ending production of combustion vehicles. While this may have generated slightly fewer headlines at the time, it would have prevented the negative publicity and dent to employee morale it is now experiencing.

To read details about my keynote speeches on purpose-driven leadership, click here. 🚀

😱 Why Upwork is making gains in a soft recruitment market

In an economy where many recruitment platforms are struggling, Upwork is posting gains. Last month, the company reported impressive revenue growth of 14.5% to $193.1 million, alongside a 6% increase in active clients year-on-year.The results contrast sharply with the reports of competitors like ZipRecruiter, Recruit Holdings (which includes Indeed and Glassdoor), and Seek, which posted revenue losses of 27%, 2.5%, and 6% respectively.

🙇♂️ So what accounts for the contrasting fortunes of these recruitment companies? In an economy where many companies are reducing full-time employees (FTEs), Upwork seems to be benefiting from the shift towards project-based work, offering a flexible and scalable solution for businesses to hire employees on a shorter-term basis. In contrast to freelance sites like Fiverr which prioritize one-off, relatively low-value engagements, Upwork has positioned itself as a preferred platform for companies seeking reliable, quality candidates for time-limited roles.

Empower your HR team to hire faster and more efficiently on LinkedIn through my LinkedIn for HR training course.💪

🤔 Why bands should stand up to Ticketmaster

⏰ It was the news many music fans of a certain age had been begging for. After a hiatus of 15 years, britpop legends Oasis are to reform for a series of massive concerts in the UK and Ireland in 2025, with further global dates to be announced later. Within days, streams of Oasis songs were through the roof; the band now occupies three of the top 5 places in the UK album chart.

But amid all the joy, nostalgia and goodwill, Ticketmaster did its best to ruin everything. A new ticket sales process called "dynamic pricing" meant that fans were being asked to hand over up to £350 for tickets with a face value of £135. This was the result of an algorithm that automatically increases prices along with scarcity and demand, similar to airline tickets. For a band whose fan base skews heavily working class, this was not a good look. In response to the controversy, the band announced two new London dates that will be sold through “a staggered, invitation-only ballot process".

But it is not all bad news: Other artists, like Robert Smith of The Cure and Taylor Swift have taken a stand against dynamic pricing and refuse to use it. Let’s hope more bands and artists follow their example and prioritize the long-term legacy of their brand over short-term profits. 🤞

💚 Connections That Matter

As an advocate for "Connections That Matter," I truly believe in the power of building meaningful relationships that go beyond the surface. Personal branding plays a huge role in this—it's not just about how you present yourself professionally, but how you authentically connect with others on a deeper level. I’ve seen firsthand how cultivating a personal brand rooted in genuine values and trust can open doors to opportunities, strengthen partnerships, and foster long-lasting connections.

🗓️ Join me at Connections That Matter on September 19th at Trust Square Zurich from 18:00 – 22:00. I’ll be speaking about how to leverage your personal brand to grow your network and expand your career opportunities. Sign up here.

Don't be shy to give me your take on those topics in the comments and feel free to share — it won’t bite I promise. Gracias y hasta la próxima. 👋

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